A FAMILY is grieving for a 16-year-old boy who died in a freak accident while riding a tandem bicycle with his father. Jordan Ward, from St Ives, was on holiday in Wales with his parents, Mark and Alison. Mr Ward, 40, described how Jordan, who was steerin

A FAMILY is grieving for a 16-year-old boy who died in a freak accident while riding a tandem bicycle with his father.

Jordan Ward, from St Ives, was on holiday in Wales with his parents, Mark and Alison.

Mr Ward, 40, described how Jordan, who was steering the bike at the front, set off down the hill going fairly fast and took a bend in the road going too close to the bank.

"We clipped the bank and fell off into the road. We were both stunned and both just sat in the road, dazed. I went to the edge of the road and called Jordan over to sit next to me and he got up and walked over to me and sat down next to me. I kept talking to him to keep him awake."

Jordan was taken to hospital by ambulance but lost consciousness and died in hospital three days later.

Unknown to his parents, he carried an organ donors' card, and they gave consent for donations to be made to help save the lives of two other people.

Jordan's father, whose toes were broken in the accident and will be in plaster for several weeks, said Jordan had bumped the back of his head and died of severe brain injury. The accident in Bwlchllan, near Aberystwyth, was on Monday, August 14 and Jordan died on Thursday, August 17. His funeral is on Friday.

His father said: "We bought the tandem 18 months ago and must have cycled 1,500 miles on it. We had taken it to Wales before and we had ridden along that road before. He was riding on the front and he loved it. Jordan loved going fast down hills.

"It was nice for us to do something together. I would come home from work and he would say let's go out on the bike. One day, we cycled 60 miles to Melton Mowbray and we came back so tired we said we were never going to cycle anywhere again, but the next day we were off somewhere else."

Jordan, who was severely dyslexic and had learning difficulties, was a pupil at The Lady Adrian School in Cambridge and was looking forward to starting a life skills course at Cambridge Regional College. He leaves a sister, Sophie, who will be 18 this week, and girlfriend of two years, his schoolfriend, Donna, 16, from Longstanton.

His mother, Alison, 40, said: "He was just a normal teenage boy, who loved doing things with other people. He loved cooking. He was never any trouble.

"They were always full of praise for him at school. The only complaint we ever had was that he would start giggling and set the others off. That was the worst thing he ever did. He had so many friends, he was a thoughtful and considerate boy. It's hard now the numbness is wearing off and what has happened is starting to sink in."

Mrs Ward, who runs Paper Crazy in Cromwell Mews, St Ives, said Jordan helped her regularly in the shop. She was touched by how many customers had sent her cards and flowers. She said her son had a wicked sense of humour and the music at the funeral would include The Crazy Frog Song and the dance song From Paris to Berlin.

Mr Ward, a production engineer at Webtec in St Ives, said: "Jordan was a dearly loved and very kind, special person. We are devastated that he has been taken away at such an early time in his life."

Jordan Ward's funeral will be at Cambridge Crematorium on Friday, September 1 at 2.15pm. The family is asking for donations to the UK Transplant Register or Morriston Hospital in Swansea.